sanky panky

What it means

1. 1.

   A young Dominican man who works the resort towns romancing foreign women, with a visa, remittances or a standing allowance as the eventual goal. Bávaro, Sosúa and Boca Chica are the classic territory.

2. 2.

   Loosely, any local man visibly courting a tourist — thrown at people by way of teasing, not always accurately.

Examples with translations

• Ese e' sanky, tiene tre' gringa' mandándole cuarto'.

  He's working the tourists — he's got three foreign women sending him money.

• Cuidado con lo' sanky panky de la playa.

  Watch out for the beach hustlers.

Where it comes from

A Dominican coinage of the tourism boom, generally traced to English 'hanky-panky'. It became a national reference point after the 2007 comedy 'Sanky Panky', which is also why the short form sanky is now more common than the full phrase.

First attested: 1980s

Other forms

Spellings and variants:

sanky